The Psychology of Abandonment, according to Goodreads

Goodreads asks an interesting question: Why do readers abandon books?

In the Goodread’s data, based on the books that are most often shelved by its users as ‘abandoned,’ ‘did not finish,’ or ‘unfinished,’ the following were the most abandoned books:

• The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling 
• Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Ironically, each one of those have been big sellers for its publisher. I’m not sure if that’s a triumph of marketing over quality, because the book wasn’t what the reader expected (I’m looking at you, Rowling)  or because the book just isn’t accessible to many readers, but it is interesting.

Do you drop books you’ve started?  If so, how long does it take you to put the book down, and why do you usually drop it?

Without further ado, here’s Goodreads’ infographic on “abandoned books.”

Related articles

• Fifty Shades of Grey’s E.L James Tops Forbes’ Author List: Does She Deserve It? (contactmusic.com)
• Bookmarks: “The Casual Vacancy” by J.K. Rowling (devorahroberts.wordpress.com)